Free Will Astrology

ARIES (March 21-April 19): “Indignation is one of the most rewarding of emotions,” writes Theodore Dalrymple, “as well as one that automatically gives meaning to life ... There is nothing like irritation to get the juices circulating and the mind working.” Of all the ideas that have made me irritable and indignant in recent weeks, this one steams me the most. I disagree so completely that I am practically beside myself with paralyzing rage. And as I plunge my attention further and further into his ridiculous proposal, I feel the tension coursing through my body. I sense my mind becoming swampy, my perceptions distorted. There’s a good chance that I am inducing in myself a state of stressed-out stupidity. Please don’t follow my example, Aries. It’s possible that sour fury could be useful to you at other times, but right now you should avoid it. If you want your intelligence to work at peak efficiency in the coming days, you’ll need long stretches of tender, lucid calm.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): The evidence is incontrovertible: You have definitely acquired more power in 2009. Whether that means you are now sitting in a corner office bossing around a gaggle of subordinates, I don’t know. What I do know is that you are in greater charge of your own destiny. You know yourself much better, and are smarter about providing yourself with what you need, when you need it. You have gained access to enormous new reserves of willpower, in part by harnessing the energy of your obsessive tendencies. Blind fate just doesn’t have the same control over your life as it used to. More than ever before, you’re making decisions based on what’s really good for you rather than on your unconscious compulsions.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20):I trust you’ve traveled all over creation in 2009 — or have at least exposed yourself to a wide range of novel sights and sounds near your home turf. I pray that you’ve escaped one shrunken niche, two narrow perspectives, and three low expectations. I’m also hoping that in these last 12 months, you have regularly sought out pleasant jolts and breathtaking vistas that have inspired you to see the big picture of your unfolding destiny. If you haven’t been doing these things with the eager abandon you should have, please take the next flight to the other side of the world. Eat unfamiliar food, meet people who are very different from you, listen to strange music, climb a mountain, and get your mind blown.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): So how are you doing with your year-long resurrection project, Cancerian? Have you been taking care of the finishing touches these past few weeks? If not, do so soon. It’s high time for you to officially and definitively rise from the dead. Your wandering in the underworld is at an end. Your mourning for broken dreams should be complete. In January, the age of exploration will begin; make sure your reborn spunk is ready for action by then.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22):I bet your relationship life will be a source of revolutionary teachings in 2010. Adventures in intimacy and partnership will draw you into some highly educational fun and games. You will be invited to dramatically expand your understanding of the nature of commitment. You will also be asked to dig deeper to discover your real desires, which up until now have been partially camouflaged by more superficial longings that were grafted onto you during the darker days of adolescence. How should you prepare for the interesting tests of the next 12 months? How can you get yourself in shape to earn the demanding gifts that will be within reach? Now is an excellent time to start thinking about those questions.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Whenever the tide goes out, the creek I live next to loses a lot of its water to the bay. It becomes a narrow trickle surrounded by stretches of mud. From a distance the mud looks like a wet black desert, but if you get up close you’ll see it’s covered with tiny furrows, pits, and bulges. This is evidence that many small creatures live there, although only the hungry ducks and egrets know exactly where to look to find them. Be like those birds, Virgo. As you survey your version of the mud flat, ignore anyone who tells you that it’s barren. Go searching for the rich pickings.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): It seems to me that in 2009 you’ve learned to love the fact that all the world’s a stage. You’ve found roles that have been fun to play, and you’ve expressed yourself with the nuanced zeal of a skilled actor in an elaborate theatrical production. I have very much enjoyed seeing you reveal the full range of your inner riches. If I were going to award Oscars to the astrological signs, you Libras would get the prize for “Best Performance of One’s True Self.”

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): “The nature of the work is to prepare for a good accident,” said filmmaker Sidney Lummet. He was talking about the craft of creating movies, but he could have also been advising you on how to make the most of the coming week. Your task, as I see it, is to set in order everything that can be set in order. Get very organized. Make sure you’re well-rehearsed. Be warmed up and highly alert. That way you’ll be ready to respond with graceful intensity when serendipitous opportunities arise within the framework you’ve put in place.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): One of your top accomplishments in 2009 is the way you have united parts of yourself that had not previously been very well connected. It seems you decided that you were tired of being split up into fragmented sub-personalities that had different agendas. Somehow you managed to convince them all to work together in a common cause. Now I’m quite impressed with the new spirit of cooperation that’s at work in your depths. I predict it will lead to an unprecedented singleness of purpose in 2010.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): In his book The Way of Transition, William Bridges defines the “neutral zone” as “that in-between time, after you’ve let go of your old life and before you have fully discovered and incorporated your new life.” Sound familiar? Maybe the neutral zone where you’re currently simmering isn’t as dramatic as that — maybe you haven’t been stripped of every single certainty and you’re not wandering in limbo. But I suspect you have at least let go of one aspect of your old familiar rhythm and have yet to ease into the one that’ll be familiar in the future. My advice? Don’t rush it. Get all you can out of this unique and educational time in the neutral zone.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): In 2009, the cosmic powers-that-be have been conspiring to get you to expand your self-image and enlarge your understanding of your place in the world. So I trust that in these last 12 months you have started a business or organized a support group or reinvented your physical appearance or begun your masterpiece — or done something to initiate a new phase in your long-term cycle. If for some reason you’ve been remiss about doing this work, I suggest you scramble to make up for lost time. And if you have been taking advantage of the abundant cosmic help, it’ll soon be time to move on to phase two: consolidation.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): To prepare for his turn to hit, a Major League baseball player slips a doughnut-shaped piece of metal over the top of his bat, making it a few pounds heavier than it normally is. He then takes a number of practice swings. The theory is that when he removes the doughnut and strides up to home plate to actually hit against a pitcher who’s throwing the ball at 90 miles per hour, the bat will feel lighter and he’ll be able to swing faster. As you prepare for your own equivalent of going up to bat, Pisces, I urge you to use this as your operative metaphor.